Real-world sporting events and teams tend to be organized in leagues. Generally, a league is a set of teams that play a series of sporting events according to league rules. Often, the league matches are grouped into seasons, such as annual periods during which matches are held. There exist soccer (football) leagues, baseball leagues, hockey leagues, and the like. Some fans can be supporters of one or more teams in a variety of leagues.
A team can comprise one or more players and often teams are associated with the cities in which they are based, the stadium or venue that is considered their home venue, their team colors and/or indicia, and in some cases teams have enduring personalities, coaches, owners and other aspects of the team that draws (or deflects) fans. While not departing from the definition of league herein, it should be understood that teams can be added or removed from a league, guest matches might exist (where a team not generally considered to be a member of a league plays a league match, typically on an irregular basis).
While not intending to be limiting, it should be understood that a match with real-world league comprises events, games, outings, rounds, scrimmages, etc. wherein two or more real-world teams come together to compete for a period of time (i.e., a match starts and at some point ends) and at the end of the match, there is an outcome, such as a score for the match, typically with one team being declared the winner of the match (or more than one team, for some leagues), or matches might end in a draw, forfeiture, delay or cancellation.
Typically, the start times/dates for matches among teams are set at the start of a league season or before and are published. Typically, the end times/dates for those matches is determined by the league rules (and possibly intervening events unrelated to the match) and the outcome of the match is determined by the league rules and the actions taken or not taken by the team or team members. For example, the Dodgeville soccer team plays the Smalltown soccer team at 3 PM on Saturday and the match ends when the game clock reaches “0:00” and the outcome is the total number of goals each team scored during that time period.
Fans associate with those teams. Fans may switch allegiances among teams and might even change allegiances to leagues altogether, choosing at times to support no teams while at other times choosing to support one or more teams in one or more leagues. Often, all that is required of a fan to have an allegiance to a team is to state a preference, although some fans will purchase clothing and other items with team indicia thereon, buy season tickets, regularly attend real-world matches of their favorite team, follow news of the team and its players, etc.
Quite often, sporting fans support teams that are based in or near the fans' home town or where they consider home. As a result, communities of interest often exist in real-world communities, wherein local fans support their local teams by attending matches and cheering on the team, by watching the matches on television or following matches in other media such as radio and networked computers (e.g., Internet media), by purchasing merchandise with the team logo and other ways. Sports fans identify themselves with their favorite teams and take pride in supporting those teams.
Real-world league events that are followed by fans are generally populated by teams with members that qualify for the events, such that not just anyone who is interested is able to join a team and play in the league. Thus, there are interested parties who would be excluded from actually participating in the event, except perhaps as a spectator. However, with virtual leagues, wherein at least part of the operations of the league are simulated in a virtual space, often anyone who signs up or buys a game can participate.
Some of these sports fans also play interactive games. The interactive entertainment industry publishes sports games wherein the teams in those sports games correspond to real-world teams. For example, the electronic soccer game FIFA 07 published by Electronic Arts of Redwood City, Calif., USA, provides sports fans with a chance to play a video game where they can control an animated version of their favorite team.
A desirable goal would be for a sports fan to leverage such game play in such a way as to show community support for his or her favorite teams.